Feeling hot hot hot.

As many of you may know, my time in Japan is drawing to a close. While part of me feels like it's dying, I'm happy to say that I am pretty stoked about coming home. It'll be nice to see all my favorite people (that includes you, white people!), family (for a few days), and eat all those wonderful foods I left behind. God bless you Toppers Pizza. I'll be back on Halloween, so I expect all of you to have sacks (not bags!) of candy ready for me. Thanks.

So in our remaining time here, Val and I are doing some travelling, eating our favorite foods and saying sayonara to the folks that made our stay here enjoyable and memorable. First stop on our itinerary was Shirahama, well known in Japan for its wonderful hot springs (onsen). A place of retreat and relaxation, it is a rare delight for most Japanese. Located 2 hours by train south of Osaka, it's quite out of the way for most folks to go regularly.

Having been to Japan before, I had been to a different hot spring and my experience then was way different than the one we had today. hoooooo boy were we shocked. The whole idea of hot springs is tapping into the natural hot springs that bubble up from the earth. People build hotels and resorts on top of them, charge small sums of money, and everyone's happy. The only part they neglected to mention that it would be hot as BALLS. Allow me to present exhibit A.

After 10 minutes in the tub/spring, I had to get out. I was feeling incredibly light-headed and was worried I was being cooked alive. As you can see, I'm about as pink as Val's purse. I apologize for the hairy legs though, I haven't shaved in 13 years.

Here's the cooking pot..err hot tub. In the tourist photos online and in brochures, these places usually look incredible as they are usually outdoors and overlooking a rocky cliff or deep blue ocean. However, since Val and I wanted to go together nd not get separated into the men and women's bath, we paid a little extra to get the private bath. While I have no problems sitting around in my birthday suit with Japanese dudes (they all do it, it's a culture thing), Val was afraid the ladies would stare incessantly at her boobs. I understand because hell, I look at em all the time. :D

The water coming out of that little pipe is daaaaamn hot. While I was only in there for a short time, when I came out my skin did feel a smoother. Probably because it's all dead. The way you're supposed to do it is shower first, hop in the tub, get out and scrub off and get back in for a final soak. An interesting concept had I not been lightly steamed.

Here's the nice little hallway leading up to our private room.

Yeah, I'm super excited to be here too Val!

A small shrine for you to cleanse your hands and face. Usually the pool of water for scooping is really cold, but this one was connected to the hot spring so it was bubbling up and such.

Please enjoy my insightful commentary.

Here's the view from the top. The hot spring we went to was part of a hot spring park where there's a bunch of other hot spring hotels (ryokan) as well.

Being close to the ocean and mainly a tourist destination, the aesthetic and feel of the place reminds me a lot of Okinawa, quiet and quaint.

Between the eating, seeing and talking I'm hoping I'll have some more free time to blog about the pile of stuff that we've done since the last post.

See you soon!

Skype!

Hey guys!

Just a quick note...

I'm really not sure why the hell I didn't think of this you know, 9 months ago...but Val and I finally got Skype accounts! Which one of yous has it? Add us!

My contact is "urmclovin". Why? Because I'm Superbad. Also, normlau was already taken. Go figure.

Val's contact is "princessaadora".

Talk to us! Or let us know so we can call you!

See you online!

Mine Mac explodeth

Happy summer everyone!

I had no idea it was gonna be this hot in the summer here. We had been warned but...damn. It's hot. In the evenings, despite the absence of the sun, you can still sweat a few buckets just standing still. Let's just say our washing machine has been awfully busy.

We just had our sweet 2 week summer vacation and have come back exhausted. One week in Hong Kong for family stuff and other assorted activities (ie. eating, shopping, sightseeing and more eating). The other week was playing tour guide to both Val's parents and mine in the 24 degree heat. Good times. In all seriousness though, it was pretty cool having them come visit.

So I got up the other night to grab a snack, and when I came back I was all, "huh?". "Why is my computah not lying flat?". I take a look at the bottom and this is what I find...


The battery was pretty swollen. I had taken this picture the next morning after I had taken it out. I guess I should be happy I still have a non-melted face. Long story short, I got it replaced for free despite my warranty having expired last month. Some kind of common problem... Come on Apple, I didn't overpay for my machine for shit like this to happen. Ah well.

On a happy note, our friends Naomi and Satoshi got married! We were late to the reception because we had to work but it was a pretty laid-back and good times affair. Essentially, the reception is the same as ours, except it was only 2 hours long and they gave out prizes to the guests. The top prize? A freaking Wii! I was super jealous.


Here's us with the happy couple. Getting other people to take your pictures is such a crapshoot sometimes. If only they had photo editing stuff that removed blurriness. That would be superb.

All the new pics are up on Facebook. Check em' out! That's all for now folks!



p.s. We're coming home early November.

As I was doing the other post about our second baseball outing, there came a chorus of shouting from down the street. I quickly poked my head out the window to see a protest pass by our main window.



This is certainly not something you see every day. Regardless, this isn't the first time they've done this either. The odd thing is that they've got the full police escort. They're not even remotely rowdy!

I have no idea what they're complaining about this time, but I'm sure those kids in the park they passed paid close attention.

Ouendan!!!!!!!

Hey guys!

Hope everyone had a great Canada Day! We had a pretty good (by my account) BBQ on the roof of our building despite the inclement weather. It was all set up ghetto styles with a tarp as our roof. I think I took one or two pictures, but I'll have to dig em up from the depths of my monster hard drive. It eats photos.

Our summer vacation is starting soon and Val and I could not be more stoked. We're flying to Hong Kong on August 2nd and we'll be there shopping, eating, sightseeing and visiting my relatives for a week. Oh, my cousin's getting "married" too. Long story. I have no idea what kind of gift to get him though. Dangit.
Val's parents are coming into Osaka the day after we get back and my parents will be arriving a few days after that, so the next two weeks should be stressful, interesting or fun, or a mix of all three. I'll let you know how it goes.

We got some new neighbours! Mike and Melissa from Canada! They're just one apartment down from us and we've already done some hanging out and traveling together. They're pretty rad folks. Just thought I'd mention that.

Also, news break, it's hot as HELL up in this mother. Every day it's a good 30 degrees plus humidity. Thankfully in our apartment, we have sectioned off rooms so if need be, we can go into lockdown and keep ourselves cool. In the bedroom and living room, it's a nice 22 degrees. Going into the kitchen out of our "safety zone" is something like 28 degrees. When you talk to Japanese people who know it's your first summer in Osaka, they usually gleefully tell you that it's only going to get hotter as the summer wears on. It's also prime cicada right now. Every morning up until noon they're chirping/squeaking or whatever the hell it is they're doing. It's flippin' annoying. It sounds like a high pitched whine/hum. God I hope they die soon.

I've been incredibly lazy with my posts despite my constant self-criticism (is that a real term?).
Honestly, it's not that I have a lack of material, it's just that I'm hardly in the mood. TO construct a lengthy blog post I have to hand pick and scrutinize each picture and craft each witty caption and description. All in all, it usually takes about 2 hours or so. However, I'm finding that some of you out there actually read this, so I should just suck it up and be more consistent. For that faithful reader, I apologize.



You may ask, why did I just read all that? I dunno, you're the one that clicked on some link. Ha. Just kiddin. This little ditty of a post is about our second Hanshin Tigers game. It was a lot like the last one, except this one was ridiculously hot. However, that didn't stop the fans from cheering their arses off. These are deidcated folks I tell ya.

Here's the gentleman who was leading the cheers in our section. In some parts of the world, they are also referred to as "cheerleaders". In Japan, they're better known as "Ouendan". There were other guys on the team who would rotate with him, but he was clearly the best. It's really hard not to like a guy who's screaming his lungs out and asking you to do the same. He looks kinda serious but when he gets going it's all good times in Koshien. Please see below for photographic awesomeness proof.













You want more proof you say? Peep this.



They're so organized that they have signs to signal to the other Ouendan what cheers to do next. Most of the time, the transition from cheer to cheer was pretty seamless. The crowd was right in step and didn't miss a beat. Again, way hardcore.



It was the top of the 7th inning, so you know what that means...balloons!!! I might add I nearly passed out from trying to inflate these damn things. So you could say, I was quite flaccid for a while. Nonetheless, perseverance and lots of deep breathing later, we were all good to go. Thanks to Daisuke (on the left) for getting the balloons.













And they're off!














Here's the gang in intense and pose mode. It's Val, Daisuke, Taka, Aidan and Aki (Becky). Thanks again to Daisuke for getting some sweet seats for us. Out of our little posse, he is definitely the most hardcore. He even comes after work sometimes. He was so helpful he even printed out the lyrics for the cheers. Alas, my Japanese skills am suck. :(

The Tigers had lost the night before, so this was the night to redeem themselves. How'd they do? It was an epic ass beating of 9-2. We all felt bad for the tiny cheering contingent in the nosebleeds for the other team. Better luck next time bitches!


I couldn't have said it better myself. Despite the heat, it was an awesome game and I'm thinking I'll have to go back at least one more time.

That's all for now! I've got some other posts in the hatch so expect at least two more to pop up tonight.

Hanshiiiiiin Tiiiiiigers!!!!!!!!!!

Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

Yeah, we're in Japan, but we didn't forget. Alas, there will be no cottage going this weekend, but there will be a BBQ (hopefully it goes well) and fireworks!

Check out this sweet bag of bang I got...


And only for 20 bucks! Normally in good ol' Canada it'd be 50+ at least. Fingers crossed we don't blow off any. ;)

Enjoy your long weekend guys! Only one month to go till the next one eh?

I'm sorry, but our princess is in another castle.

Hey all!

I really gotta start pumping these things out on a more consistent basis. Besides my crippling laziness, Val and I have been experiencing the weekend laziness blues. Because our schedules during the week are pretty messed up, it's difficult to find time to do the essential stuff like errands and groceries. Therefore, our weekends totally feel like that one scene in Old School where Will Ferrell is telling those kids he's gotta go to Home Depot tomorrow. He might go to Bed Bath & Beyond, but he's not sure if he'll have time. Adult weekend hell. Man, being "grown-up" sucks.

Regardless, my birthday rolled around (thanks for all the bday wishes!) and we figured we should get off our asses and do something. I had heard a lot about this Himeji Castle, so it was high time we checked it out. A two hour train ride later and we were all ready for explorin'.

The only other castle I can compare the one in Himeji with is the one in Osaka. I gotta say, the one in Osaka SUCKS. The surrounding area is much better put together and way hotter looking. For the small fee of $6 we could wander around and even go into the castle. How rad is that? This place is a UNESCO world heritage site, so they were pretty strict about not smoking, eating or drinking. Did I mention this castle is made almost entirely of wood?

I took a megaton of pictures, so bear with me, it's gonna be a looooong one...

The front "moat" area of the castle. Not nearly as deep or death-inducing, but much
prettier.

Speaking of pretty... <3

It took a good 20 minutes just to walk from the front of the place to the actual castle. There's a large grassy area leading up to the castle where I half expected some hippies to be playing ultimate.

Heavily fortified and able to defend from all sides. Except ninjas. Nothing beats ninjas.

Yup. You read it right. It's the suicide quarter! All kinds of cutting open your stomach went on there I'm sure. We checked it out but nothing interesting of note...just a small courtyard. I love how the spot that says "You are here" is all worn down from all the idiots who've touched this map.


This pictures is actually sideways (sorry!). The walls are constructed in a way I've never seen before. Some of the rocks are placed in sequence, but other parts are, to quote the info placards, "random style". Apparently it was to prevent invaders from scaling the walls.


The architecture of this castle is truly remarkable. The sheer amount of detail is mindblowing. It's hard to imagine all of this was built by hand. Those poor peasants.


This bad boy was taken from inside the castle. The windows were just open spaces with wood slats, so it was easy to lean out and take some pictures. I love how there's always mountains everywhere. Did I mention I like skyline pictures?

More castle porn!

Someone help me! I don't know how to smile properly. It must be that old age.


The back door. Go on, think of something funny.

After a long few hours of exploration, we needed some ice creamy nourishment. Right across the street there was a place with 10 odd flavours of soft serve. You'd be making that face too if you had their mango ice cream. Mmmmm....mango ice cream.



From the train station, you can actually see the castle way off in the distance. It's actually straight down the main street and takes about 15 minutes to walk. Along the way, there were a bunch of totally random statues. We figured we couldn't not take a picture of this bad boy. We got some stares for taking a picture, but we're not the ones with a fat, naked saxamaphone player in our city...

Here's something you don't see every day...

There was a lady selling a bunch of beetles on the sidewalk. She wasn't crazy or anything. These things were HUGE. If I saw these things my first instinct would probably be to stomp them the hell out. From what I understand, kids collect beetles and raise them at home. When you've raised your beetle to a good size, you fight them with other beetles. Kinda like cock fights for kids. For adults, I think the "joy" is in breeding them. A guy I work with told me his girlfriend won a pair of prized beetles which are worth about $125 a piece. if they breed successfully, their offspring get get anywhere from $200-$500. Them shits is ridiculous. The above beige one is of Japanese origin while the black one is American.

Finally! All done! If you wanna see the rest of the pictures, you can check em' out here.

I've probably said this before, but it's very easy to get into a routine and lose track of why we're here to begin with. It's always awesome to do something really Japanese or see something so flippin' cool to help us appreciate Japan that much more.

p.s. I went to Fushimi Inari in Kyoto last week! It's truly an amazing place. I took something along the lines of 200 pictures so I'm still sorting that out. I'll post about it when I get my shit together. Later dudes!

Socks rocked off

All I can say is...wow.


I've heard that Japanese baseball fans were hardcore, but I was not expecting something on the level. Many of the students I've taught had hyped up the Hanshin Tigers so much that I felt it would be disrespectful to delay going to a game any longer. Tonight was the night. Location? Koshien. Opposing team? The Seibu Lions. Play ball!

Having only been to two Blue Jays games in my life, my baseball experience has been somewhat limited. Granted, watching baseball is usually as fun watching paint dry so I wasn't sure what to expect. Meagan and Val also being non-baseball fans came along to see what the fuss was about. Becky, one of the Japanese staff I've had the pleasure of working with also came. It's funny because she said she kinda liked the Tigers, but as soon as the game started you could tell she was way hardcore because she knew all the cheers, actions and player names. Casual fan my ass!

The game started promptly at 6 and even though many of the seats were empty, the main cheering section to our right (Cheer right) was already in full force. Their numbers would soon be bolstered by a thousand more. All the fans had small, mini, hollowed out plastic bats chained together nunchuck style to make the stadium rumble. In each section there were guys standing up at the front leading the cheers as well as drummers keeping the beat and trumpeters to punctuate the already deafening roar. It felt more like I was at a concert watching the hypnotic movements of the main cheering section's plastic bats with some baseball off to the side. Imagine having your socks rocked off for three hours with no break. Awesome is just barely acceptable in describing the fever pitch atmosphere.

The most amazing aspect of the night was the sheer enthusiasm of the entire crowd. No heckling, no fighting spectators, just pure unadulterated fun. With an extensive playlist of cheers/chants on loop, the crowd was always ready to go and on their feet at a moment's notice. With Japanese society being so structured, it was amusing to see even their fun time so structured. From what I could understand, most of the players had their own cheers. Hitting a home run, a single, getting the other team out, and catching a fly ball all had a specific cheer. Even when the other team changed pitchers there was a cheer accompanied by bat hitting actions.

Here's the crowd singing the other team's pitcher off the field. Burn!




That's enough reading. Picture time!



NO WAVE?! That's the only move I know! The seats didn't have backs on them so there could have been some freak wave accidents in the past that would've prompted such a harsh ban.



No crackers or peanuts or cracker jacks. Not even a hot dog! Of the Western faire in the hot foods section you could score some fried chicken and fries. However, I opted for the curry rice with pork cutlet. It looks disgusting but I assure you it was quite tasty. Curry and baseball, together at last! Also on the menu was soba or udon in soup. That was tempting, but the stairs were perilous and I'm a clumsy idiot.


To the right! (The ultra hardcore cheering section)

To the left!


At the top of the 7th inning, everyone started breaking out these balloons. We forgot to get ours at the front. :( My only problem with these balloons is the uncanny resemblance they have to a certain microscopic organism which shall remain nameless. You know, for the children. What happened next is..well...let's just say it's appropriate. Peep the vid below.




One of my favourite shots. Taken around 8:30 when almost all the seats were filled. When we go back next time I'll definitely have to get some better shots of the infield and players.


The lovely ladies. Which one's Becky again? Also, I have no idea what Meagan is staring at.


The cheerleaders in our section. The old lady in the yellow jersey was rocking it from the time the game started until it ended. You go grandma.

Oh yeah, before I forget, here's the crowd's response to the game winning home run:



We definitely plan on going back soon, but next time we'll be prepared with nunchuck bats in hand to add to the rawk.

Japan Delight #3

The snacks!

Sure, I miss my Sour Cream n' Bacon Ruffles and Cool Ranch Doritos, but there's a whole world of snacking to be explored here. Of course there's Pocky , and the dozens of flavours in it's line up, but that's only scratching the surface. Besides, cylindrical cookie snacks has a new champion, and that's
Toppo . More to come shortly.

I bring to you, GYOZA CHIPS!



We normally just call em' dumplings, and man are they fantastic. I could probably eat 20 of those things in a sitting. It's disgusting, I know. But hey, if you've ever eaten 20 McNuggets in one sitting you'll know what I'm talking about. Besides, it's a perfect complement to a good bowl of ramen.

Back to the chips...they taste JUST LIKE the gyoza! It's blowing my mind. Really. If there's anything food companies here do perfectly, it's simulated flavors. Hooray for chemicals! Props to Val for spotting these at the store when I was writing up the last post.

There's a 7/11 right outside our building so expect more of this hard hitting food/snack expose to come. That and I'm somewhat of an eataholic. Go fat!